Judge Orders Texas to Have Air Conditioning at All Prisons by End of 2029
The ruling cites unconstitutional conditions and orders progress reports every six months as Texas prisons face an estimated $1.5 billion cooling bill.
- On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to install air conditioning in all state prisons by December 31, 2029, ruling that current conditions violate the Eighth Amendment.
- Initiated in 2023 by inmate Bernie Tiede, the lawsuit argues that extreme heat constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, a claim Pitman found "plainly unconstitutional" in a 2025 ruling.
- Evidence presented at trial showed summer heat routinely soars above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in facilities, where inmates described desperate conditions including splashing toilet water on themselves, which Pitman wrote was "common."
- Amite Dominick, president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates, said the ruling "made clear that the state cannot keep treating human lives as a budget line," while the prison agency said it is reviewing the decision.
- The order complicates budget planning for the 2028-29 biennium, as Texas previously requested $289 million for air conditioning, far less than the $1.5 billion estimated for full system-wide installation.
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State prisons in Texas are heat hells in the summer. Sometimes prisoners were so desperate that they set fire to allow guards to splash their cell blocks with water. Now a federal judge forces the state to cool down its detention centres.
Judge Orders Texas To Air Condition All State Prisons
The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge has ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s lockups, which the prison agency said could cost $1.5 billion, by the end of 2029. The ruling, released Tuesday, is a win for inmate advocates and their attorneys, who had asked the court to force the Texas Department … The post Judge Orders Texas To Air Condition All State Prisons appeared first on Joe.My.God..
In Texas, almost 90,000 prisoners may have to endure extreme temperatures without air conditioning. A judge now puts an end to this: by 2029, the detention centres must be upgraded.
In summer Texas can be extremely hot. Prisoners spray water from the toilet to cool down. These are not decent detention conditions, a court decides.
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